There once were three builders working on a cathedral. One day a monk walked past and asked the first, 'What are you doing?' The worker replied, 'Can't you see? I'm laying one stone on top of another.' The monk asked the same question of the second man, and he replied, 'Can't you see? I'm providing for my family.' When the monk asked the third man the very same question, this was his reply

'Can't you see? I'm building a house for God.'

Meaning is not located in the type of work we do. It is the story we tell ourselves about the work that we do that matters.

When measured, we find that people who are passionate about their work are spread pretty evenly across income groups and professions. This means that just as many garbage collectors are passionate about their work as teachers, pediatricians, or artists.

The challenge with following your passion is that most people are passionate about things that are highly competitive and or don't make a lot of money, like the arts or sports. And the reality is that most people around the globe don't have the luxury to follow their passion; few people dream of being sewerage workers and don't have the option to dream of something else, but what they do have, and you have, is the ability to tell themselves a better story about the work that they do.

Tell yourself a better story and fall in love with the work that you do, preferably something that'll make you enough money to live a decent life.

pierre